The kind arm of the law! Florida police officer goes viral after he is snapped walking hand-in-hand with a lost six-year-old girl as he searches for her family

  • Officer Rich Edmonds was photographed walking a child back to her family 
  • The six-year-old child had wandered away from her parents on Tuesday evening 
  • The little girl had gotten lost at Clearwater Beach on Florida's west coast
  • She didn't want to get into the police car so Edmonds walked her back
  • Edmonds and her journeyed for a half a mile until she was reunited with family 
  • The photo was taken by a passerby and shared online on Friday  

By Cheyenne Roundtree For Dailymail.com

Published: | Updated:

A heartwarming photo of a Florida police officer holding the hand of a little girl as he walked her back to her family has gone viral.

Clearwater police officer Rich Edmonds was snapped walking hand-in-hand with a six-year-old girl who got separated from her family at Clearwater Beach on Tuesday.

The child had wandered away from her parents while they were on an outing to the west coast Florida beach.

Crying and scared the young girl didn't want to get inside the police car to track down her family, so Edmonds walked with her for half a mile until they found her family. 

The officer's police department spread the word about the good deed and called Edmonds a knight in shining armor in a Facebook post.  

Clearwater police officer Rich Edmonds was snapped walking hand-in-hand with a six-year-old girl who got separated from her family at Clearwater Beach,Florida, on Tuesday (pictured)
Clearwater police officer Rich Edmonds was snapped walking hand-in-hand with a six-year-old girl who got separated from her family at Clearwater Beach,Florida, on Tuesday (pictured)

Clearwater police officer Rich Edmonds was snapped walking hand-in-hand with a six-year-old girl who got separated from her family at Clearwater Beach,Florida, on Tuesday (pictured)

In a Facebook post on Friday morning, the officer's police department spread the word about the good deed and called Edmonds a knight in shining armor (pictured) 
In a Facebook post on Friday morning, the officer's police department spread the word about the good deed and called Edmonds a knight in shining armor (pictured) 

In a Facebook post on Friday morning, the officer's police department spread the word about the good deed and called Edmonds a knight in shining armor (pictured) 

Police were alerted to the incident when the child was approaching other beachgoers and that's when Edmonds stepped in. 

A passerby saw the sweet moment and took a picture of it and shared it online on Friday morning.

She wrote: 'One lost little girl and one kind and compassionate police officer. There is still good in this world.' 

The Clearwater Police Department also shared the touching image on Facebook and said: 'Thank you to Officer Edmonds for taking such good care of the girl!' 

Police were alerted to the incident when the child was approaching other beachgoers. She was too scared to get inside a police car so Edmonds walked the little girl a half a mile back to her family. Pictured: File photo of the department's police car
Police were alerted to the incident when the child was approaching other beachgoers. She was too scared to get inside a police car so Edmonds walked the little girl a half a mile back to her family. Pictured: File photo of the department's police car

Police were alerted to the incident when the child was approaching other beachgoers. She was too scared to get inside a police car so Edmonds walked the little girl a half a mile back to her family. Pictured: File photo of the department's police car

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